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Hyukoh will change your perception on Korean music (Picture: Live Nation)

K-pop may be taking over the world right now with bands like BTS, Red Velvet, BLACKPINK and EXO, but that’s not the only music South Korea has to offer.

Some of indie’s most exciting new music comes from the streets of Seoul, and no group shows that more than Hyukoh.

The band were formed in 2014 after soloist Oh Hyuk decided to branch out.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk, Oh Hyuk said: ‘First I was doing music by myself, but I wanted to start a band. So I met Lee In-woo, the drummer, first, he introduced me to Lim Hyun-jae, the guitarist. And I got to meet the bassist, Im Dong-gun, through a friend of mine, and we all formed together.’

The group gained a strong following around the Hongdae district, despite Oh Hyuk saying: ‘The indie scene in Korea is very small, so small in fact that there’s not much to know about it.’

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And they are going from strength to strength – their 2015 track Comes and Goes beat established K-pop groups including Girls’ Generation in the charts, and their 2018 song Citizen Kane was picked up for an ad for Apple’s Animoji.

Speaking about their sound, Oh Hyuk told us: ‘I’m not too sure how to describe our band’s sound, so it’s better for the uninitiated to listen to us and tell us how it sounds!

Oh Hyuk formed the band in 2014 (Picture: Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)

‘We take our inspiration from anywhere and everywhere – from food, while walking, while meditating, when meeting new people, when we’re on a plane, from different cities.’

We’d describe it as a throwback to the low-fi, garage band-like indie bands of the noughties – fast-paced, rebellious and stylish – who in turn, threw it back to the indie bands of the 90s.

Hyukoh’s sound is nowhere near the polished, slick and upbeat K-pop that has taken the western world by storm over the past year, and you would understand if the band resented the Korean bands that are blowing up worldwide.

He said: ‘Sometimes it works as a pro, sometimes it works as a con – but that’s the way with everything.

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‘I think it’s really interesting and it’s fun to watch. Because of it, I think in some aspects were are benefitting from it, that’s really great. But nothing is forever, there will be some point when K-pop won’t be as popular. But because we’re not K-pop, I hope we stay popular even when K-pop is not.’

Hyukoh will play Manchester’s Gorilla on 26 February 2019, and the Electric Brixton on 27 February – tickets are available on Live Nation.

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